Raspberry variety named ‘Motueka’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct floricane fruiting variety of red raspberry, named ‘Motueka’, botanically identified as  Rubus idaeus  L. is described. The new variety is distinguished from others by its high yields of medium sized, high flavored, moderately bright and medium red berries. The plant exhibits a spine-free upright growth habit of medium vigor. The fruit are suitable for consumption as fresh berries and are also amenable to processing. Fruit are detached easily and the variety is well suited for harvest by machine as demonstrated in trials with a Korvan 9000 harvester. In addition, the plant has displayed resistance to Raspberry Bushy Dwarf Virus (RBDV).

Genus and species of plant claimed: Rubus idaeus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The new variety of red raspberry, Rubus idaeus L, was created in thecourse of a planned breeding program carried out at HortResearch Nelson,New Zealand. The parents used to make the cross in 1989 were theselections B257 (seed parent) and F29 (pollen parent). B257 was selectedfrom open pollinated seed of the Scottish Crop Research Instituteselection 7936F5 grown at HortResearch Nelson. F29 was selected from thecross ‘Marcy’×‘Malling Delight’ produced on behalf of HortResearch atthe Canada Agriculture Station at Abbotsford, British Columbia and grownat HortResearch Nelson.

The parentage of the new variety also includes the Scottish varieties‘Glen Prosen’ (not patented) and ‘Glen Clova’ (not patented), the Germanvariety ‘Rumiloba’ (not patented) and the United States variety‘Carnival’ (not patented). The background of ‘Motueka’ also includesRubus occidentalis via the Scottish breeding program and spinelessnessfrom the old Scottish variety ‘Burnetholm’.

Seedlings were grown in the field at HortResearch Nelson and theoriginal plant of the new variety was selected during the 1992-93 summer(Southern Hemisphere) and was found to exhibit:

(a) a spine-free upright growth habit of medium vigor,

(b) the ability to form attractive, medium sized mid red fruit of goodflavor in exceptionally high yields on medium length fruiting laterals,

(c) resistance to Raspberry Bushy Dwarf Virus (RBDV), and

(d) adaptation for machine harvest.

The new variety was first asexually propagated in 1993, reproduced byvegetative cuttings arising from root cuttings. Cuttings developed inspring in this way root within a 3-4 week propagation period, plantssuitable for field planting are then generally ready in autumn of thesame year. The resulting plants propagated true to type demonstratingthat the characteristics of the new variety are stable and aretransmitted without change through succeeding generations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The new variety was tested and evaluated during the period 1995 to 2000at HortResearch Nelson.

When compared to the parent B257, the new variety is found to formlarger, almost as firm fruit, in higher yields. ‘Motueka’ is furtherdistinguished from B257 by having fruit that are thicker, longer, moreconical, with darker color, increased shininess, and reduced forcerequired to separate the berry from the plug.

When compared to the F29 parent the new variety exhibits larger,coherent, non crumbly, medium red fruit in higher yields, a similarpicking date (i.e. mid season), and a longer picking period. ‘Motueka’is further distinguished from F29, by having no spines on juvenile ormature canes, by reduced cane vigor and cane number, and by havinglarger fruit that are very easy to separate from the plug.

Data collected during the evaluation period comparing fruitingperformance of the new variety with standard New Zealand varieties ispresented in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Comparison of fruiting performance. Average Yield Berry WeightVariety (T/ha) (g) ‘Motueka’ 28.6 3.5 ‘Marcy’ 21.1 2.8 ‘Skeena’ 15.8 3.3‘Chilliwack’ 15.0 2.9

The data presented in Table 1 demonstrate the high fruit yield potentialof the new variety. Berries of ‘Motueka’ are suitable for consumption asfresh fruit and are very well suited for processing. The color of theprocessed product is a similar red to that of ‘Marcy’ and ‘Skeena’, thestandard varieties for processing in New Zealand, although lighter thanthat of ‘Meekeer’ or ‘Willamette’, the standard varieties for processingin the United States.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying photographs show typical specimens of the new varietyin color as true as is reasonably possible. The photographs wereprepared during 1999 and 2000 and depict three year-old plants and plantparts grown outdoors at HortResearch Nelson, New Zealand.

FIG. 1 illustrates a fruiting plant of the new variety showing thespineless growth and productive hanging fruiting laterals.

FIG. 2 illustrates enlarged close-up end and side views of typical fruitof the new variety.

FIG. 3 illustrates the shoot tip of a primocane of the new variety withthe leaflets at various stages of development.

FIG. 4 illustrates fully opened leaflets of the new variety from afloricane showing the upper and lower surface of the leaves.

FIG. 5 illustrates the dormant canes of the new variety showing thelight tan cane color and the complete absence of spines on the canes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Horticultural terminology is used in accordance with UPOV guidelines forraspberry. All dimensions in millimeters, weights in grams (unlessotherwise stated). Where a color reference is given, these refer to TheR.H.S. Colour Chart, The Royal Horticultural Society, London, 4^(th)Edition, 2001.

The specimens described were three years old growing in the field atHortResearch Nelson. The plants were managed under practices to astandard considered reasonably acceptable in the horticultural industry.The observations were made in the 1999-2000 season. Environmental datafor the growing area demonstrate conditions in spring and early summer(equating to the harvest period for the variety) as follows:

Spring (September/October); mean daily temperature in the range 10-12°C. (mean daily minimum 5.8° C., mean daily maximum 16.5° C.

Early summer (December/January); mean daily temperature 16.8° C. (meandaily minimum 11.1° C., mean daily maximum 22.4° C.

A cool temperate area, frost conditions are typically experienced inwinter, with the lowest winter temperature unlikely to be colder than−10° C. Average annual rainfall is approximately 1125 mm.

Plant and foliage

The plant exhibits a very upright growth habit (FIG. 5). Typical matureplant height is commonly in the range 1750 to 1950 mm, although may varywith the growing conditions. Moderate vigor is exhibited. Cane length istypically in the range 1600-1800 mm. Internode length is typically inthe range 50-60 mm. Spines (prickles/thorns) are absent on new canes,and also on those developed in the previous season. The canes areupright with a leafy presentation, and are typically a light brown-tancoloration (near Greyed-orange 175A) during the winter. Some purplecoloration (near Purple N77A) is also evident on the upper portion ofthe cane, the degree of coloration varying plant to plant. The fruit isborne primarily on the previous year's growth. The fruiting laterals aretypically in a hanging attitude. The leafy coverage tends to providehand pickers with poor fruit presentation at harvest time but theleafiness promotes effective harvest by machine. The leaves arecompound, moderately crinkled, flat, and moderately glossy (FIGS. 3 and4). The number of leaflets per internode is predominantly three. Whilethe majority of leaflets are separate, they are occasionally fused. Thebase of the leaflet is cordate in shape and leaflets typically average72 mm in diameter and 114 mm in length. The coloration of the uppersurface of the leaf is green (near Green 137B), the underside beingmarkedly lighter in coloration (near Greyed-green 191D). While theleaves do not have distinguishing marginal or vein coloration, thevenation has noticeable rises and falls. The leaf petiole typicallyaverages approximately 52 mm in length, and 1.6 mm in diameter. It isnear Yellow-green 145A in color, with some Anthocyanin colorationobserved (near Red-purple 60A). The plant is particularly distinguishedby the presentation of the foliage—the petiole is at an angle ofapproximately 75° to the stem, however the blade of the leaf ispresented at an angle of 90°-110° resulting in a distinctive downwardpresentation of the foliage. Young shoots are semi-erect and new shootscommonly show weak anthocyanin coloration.

Inflorescence

White flowers are borne on short slender pedicels that lack spines(thorns/prickles). The time of bloom is mid-season for a summer-fruitingraspberry. At HortResearch Nelson, the date bud burst commences isapproximately September 2^(nd), with fifty percent of buds burst by midSeptember (approximately September 12^(th)). Typically there are fivepetals elongated ovate in shape with a rounded apex and flat base. Thepetals average approximately 6.5 mm in length and 3.2 mm in width. Theyare typically smooth in texture, have a smooth margin and are near White155C in color. The pedicel length averages approximately 22.0 mm(observed range approximately 20 to 30 mm). However, the more basal thepedicel the longer it commonly becomes with pedicel lengths up to about50 mm being observed. The pedicel averages approximately 0.75 mm indiameter and is near Yellow-green 144B in color. A typical flowerdiameter is approximately 22 mm (from sepal tip to sepal tip i.e. thewidest part of the flower). The flowers are predominantly borne singly,although sometimes in clusters of two or more. Terminal branch flowerclusters frequently consist of two flowers and basal flower clusters maynumber three to five. The flowers have no discernible fragrance. Fivesepals are present. These are green in coloration (near Yellow-green144B) and measure approximately 5.5 mm in length from base to tip. Thereproductive organs are typical for flowers of Rubus idaeus L.; thestigmas average approximately 6.5 mm in length and are near Green-white157A in color; there are approximately 80-90 anthers, these being nearWhite 155A in color; the filaments averaging approximately 4.5 mm inlength and being near White 155C in color.

Harvest

At HortResearch Nelson, the typical start date for picking the newvariety is December 8. Fifty 50 percent of the harvest is typicallycompleted by December 27, and harvest ceases approximately January 28.The harvest period is commonly longer for ‘Motueka’ than for either‘Marcy’ or ‘Skeena’. Similarly, the date at which 50 percent of harvestis complete is approximately 10 days later for ‘Motueka’ than for‘Marcy’ and 4 days later than that for ‘Skeena’.

‘Motueka’ is well suited for harvest by machine. In trials with a Korvan9000 harvester a high percentage of ripe fruit was removed andsuccessive harvests were uniform and high quality. Few green fruit wereremoved, even at high beater frequencies and the amount of reject fruitto be removed from grading belts was minimal.

Fruit

The berries formed on ‘Motueka’ are medium-large in size and aretypically longer than broad. The fruit is short conical in configuration(FIG. 2) and is bright in appearance with medium glossiness. The berriesare medium-firm and fleshy, with good flavor. Berries generally weighapproximately 3.5 g, although larger fruit, up to 5 g, may be observed,and average approximately 21.0 mm in length and 18.0 mm in diameter. Thefruit are medium red in color similar to the variety ‘Malling Orion’(not patented) (external color near Red 53A, internal color near Red46A). The seeds average approximately 2.7 mm in length and 0.8 mm indiameter, and are near Greyed-orange 165D in color when dry. Seed weighttypically averages approximately 1.9 mg. Fruit of ‘Motueka’ are wellsuited for individually quick frozen storage and excellent forprocessing, producing a high flavored product.

Pest and disease resistance

Resistance to aphids is unknown. Since the selection of ‘Motueka’ in1993 numerous tests for raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) have beendone using ELISA but on no occasion has the virus been detected despitehigh infection pressure. From this we suggest that ‘Motueka’ is likelyto be resistant to the common strain of RBDV found in New Zealand.

If ‘Motueka’ is grown in dense rows and conditions are favorable for theinfection of gray mould (Botrytis cinerea) some problems with fruit rotmay be encountered. The susceptibility to fruit rot has been observed tobe less than that shown by ‘Skeena’ or ‘Marcy’.

Cultivation

‘Motueka’ performs well in the cool temperate climate of the Nelsonregion under standard management practices for commercial raspberryproduction.

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of raspberry plant, Rubus idaeusL, substantially as herein shown and described.